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Keep scrolling for ChatGPT’s meltdown.

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The internet already knew who Pop Crave was

Pop Crave has become a modern news source for anything and everything pop culture. With no person associated with the brand, Pop Crave’s followers (especially those on Stan Twitter) are dedicated to uncovering the person—or people— behind the account.

• Pop Crave was invited to cover the People’s Choice Awards Red Carpet earlier this week, where internet users got a glimpse of a member of the Pop Crave team.

  • TikTok user @jennytuell14 shared a video of a young woman capturing moments on the red carpet, later matching up the content with a post from Pop Crave.

    “You guys it’s Pop Crave… We are getting evidence,” Jenny says in the background of the video.

• The internet soon went wild— with most users in disbelief that Pop Crave is seemingly run by a young woman and not a gay man.

• Many social media users have run with the theory that the woman in the video runs the account alone. However, the truth is that the internet already knew who founded the account.

  • Pop Crave was started in 2015 by Will Cosme, a former journalism student and long-time Frank Ocean stan. He started the account while working at Home Depot.

  • While Cosme founded Pop Crave, there are five associated employees according to the company’s LinkedIn profile.

  • One such member is Austin Ashburn, a journalism graduate who “came to Pop Crave via the Lorde and reality TV fan worlds.”

    “There’s no editing, review process (Cravers might consult each other on a post if the topic is controversial), no assigned coverage areas, and no shifts besides one UK-based Craver who tweets at night,” Austin tells Jael Goldfine for Study Hall. “This seems to be exactly how the account maintains its bot-like speed and reliability: all five posters are simply online constantly and tweet whenever they see ‘news.’”

• Considering the amount of internet sleuths out there, it’s surprising that X users have yet to debunk Pop Crave’s “reveal”

Watch Pop Crave’s “reveal” via TikTok.

Mommy vlogger Ruby Franke will spend up to 60 years in prison for child abuse

The infamous Ruby Franke, of the now-defunct 8 Passengers family channel, has officially been sentenced.

• Ruby and her business partner, Jodi Hildebrandt, were arrested on August 30th in Springville, Utah.

• Ruby and Jodi were taken into custody after one of the Franke children climbed out of a window and ran to a neighbour’s house asking for help.

  • According to a statement from the Santa Clarins-Ivins Public Safety, the child had “open wounds” and appeared “emaciated and malnourished.” Another Franke child was found at Jodi’s residence, where they were soon transported to the hospital for treatment.

  • In December, Ruby pleaded guilty to four felony counts of second-degree aggravated child abuse after being charged with six counts of felony child abuse months earlier.

• This week, Ruby was sentenced to four consecutive prison terms—each of which can require up to 15 years—making it a total of up to 60 years in prison.

  • According to local news reports, Ruby was emotional during the hearing, especially when she was given the opportunity to address her children.

    “I ... believed dark was light and right was wrong," she said. "I would do anything in this world for you. I took from you all that was soft, and safe and good."

• Ruby also explained her state of mind during the abuse, claiming she had followed "counsel and guidance that… led me into a dark delusion."

  • Ruby became associated with ConneXions, Jodi's life coaching service and the two regularly collaborated on videos offering parenting and relationship advice.

  • While Ruby had previously faced scrutiny for her harsh disciplining tactics in her family vlogs, the criticism intensified when she joined ConneXions. Many viewers, including Ruby’s eldest daughter, Shari, claimed the coaching was far too extreme.

    "My distorted version of reality went largely unchecked as I would isolate from anyone who challenged me,” Ruby said in court.

• All in all, Ruby's sentencing comes at a time amid growing conversation around family channels and the exploitation of children within this space. It is increasingly clear that there isn’t enough protection for children engaged in the digital space.

Read the full story via Rolling Stone.

The Highlights of TikTok’s “Who TF Did I Marry?!?” series

Wednesday’s edition of infinite scroll covered @reesamteesa’s 50-part series titled “Who TF did I marry?!” and how her success proves that TikTok users might be cut out for long-form content. But for those less concerned about the implications of Reesa’s series and just want the tea, we’ve got you covered.

• Reesa recapped her experience being married to a pathological liar— whom she nicknamed Legion for the sake of the story. The series delved into the origins of their relationship, the intricacies of their marriage, and the subsequent divorce.

• The pair met in March 2020 through Facebook dating and Hinge. Reesa's tyre blew out on the way to their first date, which Reesa now considers a foreshadowing of what was to come. Legion came to her rescue at a gas station, assisting with the tyre.

  • Legion had told Reesa he was a successful former "arena football" player who had moved from California to Atlanta for a VP position at a condiment company. Fresh from a recent divorce, he wanted to find a serious, long-term partner.

• A few weeks after they met, their relationship accelerated when COVID hit, and they decided to quarantine together at Reesa's home. Legion took on the responsibility of handling household bills, providing a sense of financial security that caused Reesa to overlook significant warning signs.

• As an unmarried couple living together, the pressure to settle down heightened, fuelled by both societal expectations and religious beliefs.

  • They started looking for a house. Each time they put in an offer, it ended up falling through, especially when Legion was required to provide proof of funds.

  • She also recounted an incident where Legion claimed to purchase an Audi Q8 for her. He assured her that the car would be delivered to their home, but it never arrived.

• This pressure to get married reached its peak when Reesa discovered she was pregnant. She ended up miscarrying, which she later saw as a blessing.

• They tied the knot in January 2021 but soon encountered issues when Reesa discovered Legion cheating by flirting and sexting other women.

• Legion's web of lies began unravelling when Reesa applied for a new job and required his social security number for the application.

  • The social security number he provided for her job application differed from the one used when obtaining their marriage license.

  • Curiosity led Reesa to conduct a background check using the new number, revealing that he had never lived in California and had worked only as a temporary forklift driver.

• After reaching out to members of his family, she learned that Legion had been pretending to talk to family members on the phone throughout their whole relationship.

• Reesa kicked Legion out on his birthday — June 17, 2021 — and later filed for divorce.

Watch Reesa’s full playlist via TikTok.

ChatGPT went rogue

Amid increasing discourse about what people actually need from Artificial Intelligence, ChatGPT experienced a major glitch this week.

• An X user named Sean, going by the handle @seanw_m, posted about the issue. He shared that ChatGPT was spouting nonsense and even switching between languages in its responses. His post quickly gained traction, racking up over 32 million views.

  “The chatgptsubreddit is filled with people wondering why it started suddenly speaking Spanglish, threatened the user (I’m in the room with you right now, lmao) or started straight up babbling” he writes.

• Many internet users were reluctant to believe the screenshots initially — assuming they were just another meme.

• However, OpenAI soon acknowledged the glitch on the website. The statement mentioned that they were "investigating reports of unexpected responses from ChatGPT."

• As ChatGPT shows cracks of unpredictability, internet users are questioning the long-term viability of Generative AI. Many wonder if accessible platforms, like ChatGPT, can withstand the influx of data or if it's already starting to falter.

  “It’s a good reminder that generative AI chatbots are a rapidly advancing technology, and what’s more, the large language models that power them are essentially black boxes that even their creators don’t entirely understand in an extremely detailed way,” Wes Davis writes for The Verge. “They operate by looking for patterns in data and then making their best guesses about how to respond to input, and it usually leads to impressive results.”

Read Sean’s thread via X.

Is Bridgit Mendler a time traveller?

From being the CEO of a start-up to completing a PhD and adopting a four-year-old boy, internet users cannot keep up with former Disney star, Bridgit Mendler. Given her ability to juggle these different roles, fans have started speculating whether Bridgit… is a time-traveller?

• Like every crazy theory on the internet, it seemingly originated on TikTok. Back in November, TikTok user @jcubedhax — real name Jackie — shared why she believes that Bridgit is a time-traveller.

  • Jackie points to clues in Bridgit’s former bio, which included the phrase “time travel??,” along with other cryptic posts that the former Disney star has both shared and liked.

  • Jackie has gone on to make several other videos to back up her claim, persuading her viewers with each post.

• Since the news broke that Bridgit is a CEO and co-founder of Northwood Space — a space communications company specialising in “building a data highway between earth and space”— Jackie believes that, following her ventures in space, time will be the next dimension for Bridgit to explore.

Watch a full breakdown of this wildly hilarious theory via TikTok.

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